Cellular telephones are well known. The pervasive use of cellular telephones has stimulated development into innovative new ways to increase the convenience and decrease the cost associated with their use. One example of such an innovation is the development of dual mode handsets. Dual mode handsets are cellular telephones that can be used both with a cellular telephone system and with a wireless local area network (LAN).
As voice over IP (VoIP) matures, there is a financial motivation to tie cellular telephones into wireless LANs, i.e., to provide wireless/cellular convergence. VoIP is substantially cheaper than traditional cellular communications. It is expected that dual mode handsets will have a substantial share of the cellular telephone market within a few years. Indeed, ABI Research has predicted that by 2009, there will be over 50 million dual mode handsets in operation, accounting for seven percent of the handsets shipped that year.
Dual mode handsets allow a user to take advantage of residential gateways and access points to check email, surf the Internet, access enterprise networks, and place telephone calls. Thus, wireless LANs, such as WiFi compliant 802.11 networks, permit dual mode handset users to bypass the traditional cellular network by using the Internet to route telephone calls instead. This has the potential to result in substantial cost savings for both individuals and companies.
Access points are already common in homes, business offices, cafes, bookstores, and airports. As access points become more widespread, the advantages of such dual mode operation become even more apparent.
Cellular networks implement security procedures that provide adequately secure communications for normal personal and business use. These security procedures include airlink authentication and encryption, as well as subscriber authentication and service authorization.
When a handset is augmented to support IEEE 802.11, similar security procedures must be implemented. However, establishing wireless LAN security parameters between an unlicensed mobile access mobile station (UMA MS), e.g., a handset, and an access point is out of scope for the current revision of the unlicensed mobile access specification.
Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a method and system whereby an unlicensed mobile access mobile station or other dual mode device can be registered with a wireless LAN before connecting thereto, such that the device is pre-authenticated. Thus, the device can legitimately receive security parameters of the wireless LAN when the device later associates therewith.
Embodiments of the present invention and their advantages are best understood by referring to the detailed description that follows. It should be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identify like elements illustrated in one or more of the figures.